Pages

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Master Bath Update: I Am Running After My Tail

I know, I know...... I promised you a tutorial on the Chest Of Drawers that I revealed yesterday. I quite frankly just don't feel like it and I have so much going on that I would rather share. I did go back to the post and put in process details if you are interested.

﻿﻿﻿﻿

﻿﻿﻿﻿Yesterday was a 'running in circles day.' Do you do that too? Ya know, research a decision so much that by the time you make it, all possibilities are exhausted and so are you!? The good news here is, for me, when I run around in circles, I somehow do find my tail. I am still searching for solutions to some details regarding the master bathroom renovation. This particular day, I am working through two details. First, the counter top decision. Nothing can move forward until I find the counter top material and have it fabricated. Literally, everything is waiting on that darn counter top. Second, I have two windows in the bath. (image to the right) I am taking the blinds out and replacing them with pieces of stained glass hung on the inside of the window pocket. I need to explore the possibilities. I can't decide between having an artist fabricate something or go the route of collecting vintage leaded windows and hanging them in a pattern. The goal here is to get rid of the blinds, let the natural light through the windows, still obscure nosey neighbors and maybe even add an element of art.

First stop.....McMows in Lake Worth. I jump in my little car and speed off.....well, drive off. I do have to act responsible. Do I? Well.....that might be for another post. Anyway, McMows is a stained glass design studio that is about a 45 minute drive away. I have spent the entire morning saying things like "McMow Mow and Mow Mow Mow." Yea, I know, crazy. But I am excited to see what they might already have fabricated. A girl can dream, can't see? I mean can't something just be that easy? Walk into a joint, see what you want, buy it for a sweet price and run home with it? Well.....not that easy this time.

McMows has been in Lake Worth for 35 years and the studio space is enough to make any artist drop their jaw. Eye candy people. I spent about an hour there talking to Donna about my project. I am wanting a clear glass geometric design and everything that is readily available is full of colors. We clipped a few pictures out of a gallery of work and she gives me an idea of price. WHAT!!! OMG!!! Well....this is original art. Her price for one 2 foot by 4 foot panel is an estimate between 1500 and 1800 dollars. I remain with my poker face fully intact. After all, I am an artist and I completely understand why the dollars are so high. If you want quality, it isn't cheap. She walks me through the lengthy process of designing and fabricating the panels. Super impressive. Just not sure it 'feels' right for me. I did buy this little guy. He is a mouth blown glass hermit crab in a real hermit crab shell. Isn't he cute!?

﻿﻿

So I decide to clear my mind about this window issue and drive south to a couple of stone retailers to address the counter tops. The first place is so pretentious, that I turned about and walked out immediately. Bad energy and I knew it wasn't going to work for me. The second stop was a fabricator that I have used before on my kitchen counter tops. He is more a sub contractor, which I was quickly reminded why he isn't a 'front man.' He had lots of granite, stone and marble slabs to chose from, but absolutely no color and design sense, nor was he even going to try. I snapped a few images of a slab that I thought might work and moved on.

As I drive, I am constantly working through the details of this renovation. I constantly roll out the possibilities. In other words.....I talk to myself in my head. I say, "Should I have a glass top fabricated? How about some sort of tile work? Why can I not find the solution? I'm I being ridiculous here? But I just don't see a granite top pulling off the look I am trying to achieve. What about that quartz?" On and on......the wheels of my car roll, and I run after my tail. I know that I am going to re-surface these cabinets but can't start until this counter top issue is solved.

So what do I do? Decide to switch gears again and address the windows! (I think there is some need for some deep psychological analysis here when I know I need to make the counter top decision, but I would rather play on the window project.)

As an alternative to having the glass fabricated, I am also considering finding a collection of framed vintage stained glass windows and hanging them one over the other. This concept is actually probably more in keeping with both my design sense and budget. So I run through my two favorite collectible malls. I find a few options. The prices are between 45 to 90 dollars a piece and I figure that I will need two or three for each window. I leave them behind to think about it. I would love to take a three hour road trip to a town north of me because I am sure that I will find it there. The place is filled with shops. But, I just can't pick up and leave. I do have a family!

So today, I am going to keep chasing my tail.....I know I will find it. I always do. I am also working on some furniture projects for the master bedroom and doing laundry.....Hey! That's a concept! Laundry. My kids DO need clothes. Right?! I'm off!